Richard Bagnold

This is a very exciting, new opening to London (2019). I say this as it was about as close to eating in a fine-dining restaurant in Japan as you can get and the meal itself was a complete success. Getting a seat at the counter here will set you back waiting months which, following this meal, I can now understand. It is not cheap at either £150 per person for the 15 courses or £180 for the 18 courses, but this is roughly half the price of the 3 Michelin starred Araki restaurant and with servings that I actually enjoyed more at Endo. A great meal had here and one I would recommend for all the reasons and summary at the expansion button (click for the full review).

Endo Kazutoshi is the former head chef of Zuma in Knightsbridge (which I happened to enjoy a great deal on my visit). Originally from Yokohama, he learnt his skills from his grandfather who was a sushi chef himself. This meal was a modern take on a traditional sushi meal and showed great flare, as did Endo-san himself through the meal, explaining the dishes as the meal progressed with some pleasing theatrics along the way. The counter itself only holds places for 16 people and is a beautifully designed dining room with adjoining bar and terrace area from drinks on sunny days as well.

Endo Kazutoshi is the former head chef of Zuma in Knightsbridge (which I happened to enjoy a great deal on my visit). Originally from Yokohama, he learnt his skills from his grandfather who was a sushi chef himself. This meal was a modern take on a traditional sushi meal and showed great flare, as did Endo-san himself through the meal, explaining the dishes as the meal progressed with some pleasing theatrics along the way. The counter itself only holds places for 16 people and is a beautifully designed dining room with adjoining bar and terrace area from drinks on sunny days as well.

First to be served was Suiji Japanese clear soup with dried bonito (a larger relative mackerel) which was fresh and well-seasoned from the bonito. Next, Endo’s signature business card, made with tuna served at 21 degrees and rice is 40 degrees celsius and was utterly light and flavorsome. Grade A4 Beef from Miyazaki came next in thinly sliced form on rice and there were certainly no complaints here with beef this good.

A homemade sandwich was made with milk bread and line caught red bream ‘Kobujime Madai’ which is Koji vegetables marinated in Kombucha seaweed. The winning touch here was the wonderfully reduced balsamic vinegar and this was in general, an absolute treat. Next came line caught seabass Nigiri from Yeu island, France and this was very good. Monkfish tempura with sweet daikon radish (which was very sweet) came with Pied de Mouton (French for Sheep’s Foot mushroom) from Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall.

Salmon from the Isle of Mull, Scotland was next and had been lightly smoked in a box before being served as nigiri on rice and was nicely done. Next up was a seasonality dish of heritage tomatoes from the Isle of Wight and beetroot from Essex served with Bluebells which was actually very pleasant. Grilled squid from Azores islands, Portugal came next with kinome herb butter and the squid and herbs from a Japanese farm in Sussex. The squid itself being ok in general.

7 day aged Otoro nigiri from Balearic sea, Spain was a delight. As Otoro is belly tuna this is highly fatty and when good quality, this is a gem to have. This was also served cooked with sea urchin, girolle mushrooms from Gloucestershire, Australian truffles and an egg-based sauce which did not interfere with the tuna flavor. This was a lovely creation to have and an absolute knock out of the meal. Langoustine nigiri from Loch Fyne, Scotland came next with brain sauce, shell powder and salt from Wales with homemade olive oil. The langoustines themselves were supplied live to the restaurant and so were as fresh as they come (literally) and had good sweetness to them at this meal.

Next up, yellow tail tuna came in a gloriously sweet broth with Japanese vegetables grown in East Sussex and was refreshing. Diver caught scallops from Orkney islands with English caviar was sumptuous and nice to be served in the small portion that it was (I find scallops can be quite a stomach full and are usually best in small doses as preference). Enoki mushroom came after this with Asakura Sansho pepper, which is a relative of Sichuan pepper and is from Japan. This is a subtler and gives a tiny numbing effect on the end of the tongue, which I was quite looking forward to(!), but in the end I needed to take quite a big piece whole to achieve this. Tokyo style Akami ‘Zuke’, nigiri came next as the lean tuna on rice and was followed by Miyazaki Wagyu beef from Kobe with Rokko white miso which was always going to be good if done well and this was. Horse Mackerel Bozushi, from Saint Jean de Luz, France had a beautiful aroma of the sea and was another delight. The final savoury course was Unagi (freshwater eel) with signature seaweed from Holland and was a pleasure to have.

As is usual with Japanese meals, there was only one main dessert and this followed probably the only part of the meal I didn’t enjoy which was a small cup/shot of warm matcha. For the dessert, instead of the traditional, egg-based firm custard dessert (tomago) and this dessert was cane sugar soufflé with creme fraiche, rum jelly and popping candy. I have had many soufflés in Michelin starred restaurants that were not as enjoyable and this is by a chef whose forte is another cuisine, so I thought this really showed his skills, just as per the innovative ‘sandwich’ at the start, both of which are very modern and welcome additions to this Japanese sushi meal.

I really enjoyed this meal in every way and I can see fully why it is hard to get in to. There is huge attention to detail in virtually everything that is done here, all served with caring professionalism and interactive hosting and explanations from the head chef throughout. Although the meal ended up being £287 per head (with all the beer and sake), it felt properly worth it as you are getting the real deal here. Not only would I heartily recommend here for a special occasion, I would also recommend treating someone you know who does not favour Japanese food, because if there is a place that advertises it properly and is likely to ‘turn’ them, it is here.

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Ok, so all done now, been there, seen it, done it….loved it. Although 3 Michelin starred, I went with an open mind and bar a couple of aspects that might restrict some diners, I am pleased to report there is no doubt that this venue is at the highest levels of a restaurant experience you can have. It is comparably expensive at £313 for the 17-course tasting menu (only choice) all in, but when the food is done to this quality, with so much thought to produce, balance, heritage and all served in the entirely graceful and caring manner that it was, the price washes away into the background. There were moments of food greatness on this lunch and these thoughts are keeping me warm and cosy when I think of them as a result. Bravo to the team here for the whole result. As usual, the food grade is purely for the food with notes on all aspects of the experience in the expansion button below (lengthy review).

Maaemo (an old Norse word meaning Mother Earth) is led by Executive chef Esben Holmboe Bang who is actually Danish (from Copenhagen). The cuisine is representative for the whole of Scandinavia but with the focus of products from Norway. It opened in 2010 and the 17-course tasting menu is the only menu choice which makes for a logistically smoother operation for the kitchen. Allow me to get a couple of niggles out of the way early, in that dietary requirements are catered for as far as can be but I gained the impression that the flexibility for allergies is less so based on the one menu design. Whilst the restaurant will make every effort to make arrangements for all, there may be a possibility on some guests having to skip a course or two depending on circumstances. The wine list is comparably expensive with bottles starting at roughly £90 at the cheapest end and no options by the glass. However, again, there is a silver lining in that the restaurant does a matching wine menu and if you wish to only have one or two of those, it is arranged for the diner’s preferences – you are simply more in their hands. I think the latter of these two points (wine menu) can easily be enhanced in the next re-design. Charm, which all staff at Maaemo seem to exude, had a way of dissipating these smaller restrictions.

Maaemo (an old Norse word meaning Mother Earth) is led by Executive chef Esben Holmboe Bang who is actually Danish (from Copenhagen). The cuisine is representative for the whole of Scandinavia but with the focus of products from Norway. It opened in 2010 and the 17-course tasting menu is the only menu choice which makes for a logistically smoother operation for the kitchen. Allow me to get a couple of niggles out of the way early, in that dietary requirements are catered for as far as can be but I gained the impression that the flexibility for allergies is less so based on the one menu design. Whilst the restaurant will make every effort to make arrangements for all, there may be a possibility on some guests having to skip a course or two depending on circumstances. The wine list is comparably expensive with bottles starting at roughly £90 at the cheapest end and no options by the glass. However, again, there is a silver lining in that the restaurant does a matching wine menu and if you wish to only have one or two of those, it is arranged for the diner’s preferences – you are simply more in their hands. I think the latter of these two points (wine menu) can easily be enhanced in the next re-design. Charm, which all staff at Maaemo seem to exude, had a way of dissipating these smaller restrictions.

The restaurant itself is barely a 10-minute walk from Oslo Central station and getting to it from the airport is a breeze from Oslo Gardermoen airport (20-minute express train rather like the Heathrow Express to Paddington). It overlooks the main approach to the train station and is located in the same block as swish looking apartments so don’t worry if you can’t see the actual sign until you reached the top of the outdoor stairs. There were actually two well-dressed gentlemen at the top of these stairs ready to guide guests into the restaurant as the first very nice touch. Inside is bright, spacious and as nicely Scandinavian-designed as you would expect.

A cold and damp scented towel greets each diner and is another simple and very welcome touch on a hot day and these small things make a huge difference to the overall experience, making you ask yourself just why don’t more places do this when the cost for doing it is not significant?. You can also tell you are in fine hands when the opening greeting is relaxed and sets all of the parameters of the meal in a calm and professional manner and sets the scene. Bravo again here.

On to the canapés and opening bite-fulls. First up was rye bread with compressed and pickled elderflower yeast cream, rhubarb gel, fermented morels and powder which had a lovely cream, crunch and elderflower essence. Sheets of celeriac and berries filled with apple blossom with fermented apple and lingonberry were delicate and floral on the palate. Roasted chicken skin with caviar, pickled shallots and tarragon was absolutely outstanding in every way and a fairly exquisite take on surf and turf with care to making the salt levels not too high. A caramelised onion tube with ‘Rakfisk’ (a Scandinavian classic of rotten trout) came with pickled leek and horseradish and was a perfectly light and pleasant mix between the two.

Salsify gel and salsify cream base with dill oil is a signature dish of the Executive Chef and it is easy to see why. It is beautifully and gently balanced and difficult to see how that can be improved. Another take on salsify on a purée of smoked salsify accompanied a pickled white onion with lemon thyme stems and aquavit. There was wonderful acidity within this and with an actual delayed floral finish. A very clever conceived dish involving a ride of sweet, acid, smoke and vibrant flavours in one. Tender king crab came from Vanager fjord in the very north of Norway where the country meets Russia and the conditions for getting these all year round crab is treacherously cold, rough and dangerous for the divers. The crab itself was beautifully fresh and tender with a simple reindeer stock to accompany which I thought was brilliantly handled. Just in the same way that one of my most revered dishes over time has been the king crab at Noma, glazed with simple egg yolk, this was a marriage of two flavours and confidence of the chef to just stick with those two.

Wild salmon from the west of Norway, was cooked in salted butter and came with wood sorrel, pickled Jasmin, black garlic, fermented white asparagus. There was an absolutely sensational sweet add on from the wild garlic to another fresh, clean and beautiful fish course. Bread was served as a course (an indication of how much work goes into this) and was a brioche bun glazed in honey, served with cultured butter of chamomile and honey. This was utterly beautiful to look at but not my personal favourite flavour for butter as cultured butter is obviously sour; the honey and chamomile did its best to offset this but the tang of the butter was thankfully toned down and is good to try things out of one’s comfort zone. Sticky hands after this led to another cold, wet flannel to wipe hands after breaking the honey bread continuing the quality service.

Rømmegrøt is a classic Norwegian dish of sour cream porridge and originates from olden times when dairy was extremely expensive and most dairy was sold to Sweden or weddings and the reserve of the privileged. Split cream of wheat flour usually has thin slices of elk meat on top but in this case, had shavings of reindeer heart on top as the meat with pickled plum vinegar. There are rare moments in dining when you have a dish that is utterly faultless and this was one of them. For such a simple offering, the warmth, balance and judgement that has gone into this one dish was on another level and this was the personification of the Michelin guide’s definition for 3 stars of ‘exceptional cuisine worth a special journey’ as I would genuinely fly back for this dish.

Stuffed morels with smoked cheese from Lofoten (islands way off the Northwest coast of Norway) was served with a sauce made from fermented morels, butter and infused in blackcurrant wood and smoked juniper. This a very pleasant way of having morels (usually never a bad time for morels) and the flavour combinations were fine but the cheese inside appeared a touch cold for the warm dish it was which impacted on its texture. It is perhaps better either being hotter or a different cheese that is smoother and runnier in texture but not volcanic in temperature at the same time.

Norwegian Lamb came from the West coast of Norway and the slab shown prior to the meal was slow-cooked for four hours with a range of herbs as its bouquet garni and this ended up being presented as a miniature slice on the plate and served with garlic mustard leaves, pickled violet flowers onion marmalade on bottom, reduction from saddle stock. This was high-grade lamb with lovely crispy skin, well-rendered fat and with wonderful reduction. There was nothing to not like with this and whenever I have lamb in a restaurant which is average in ‘lambness’, it’s times like those I wish I could just teleport them to moments like this to share the taste and show just how lamb can taste. This was another utterly superb and knock out dish albeit in micro form (all diners have a different amount of stomach space I appreciate, but I would have been very happy for a touch more here). This was another dish that was simply hard to fault in all-round cooking and flavours.

The cheese course was a product of liquid nitrogen antics, served frozen with liquid pickled black trumpet mushrooms from Stavanger (Southwest coast). This was a playful invention with it very much needing the pickled sweetness from the black trumpet mushroom and was good to have the cheese within the collection of savouries, but I believe you can gain the same essence of cheese in its normal, room temperature state when it is really good. You might just need to prepare your mouth with some hot water before having this course as possibly the coldest substance in the universe to eat.

Cultured milk was the first dessert with rhubarb & oxalis (an edible flower like wood sorrel). Normally herbs in dessert don’t do much for me other than the picture, but this was actually very good as the leaves had natural sweetness in them when bitten through and the milk and whey completely toned the sourness which was a very good call. Next was a blend of coffee, butter and hazelnut. A super-smooth ice cream with a hint of coffee was on a bed of hazelnut crumbs and coffee gel and drizzles of melted salted butter from Røros (renowned region in central Norway and on the border with Sweden), solidified on top of the ice cream on contact causing a pleasant texture almost like a thin layer of wax. Most importantly, the deliberately scorched hazelnut had a touch of bitterness that was good and all came together nicely. A mini tart of wild strawberries (miniature in themselves and the smallest I have ever seen) came with custard and on a pastry that was deep in flavour. This had a hugely potent strawberry taste and I was sad when it was over.

No Scandinavian meal or outing is complete without waffles. These were beautifully thin and aged in beef fat with buckwheat miso as another lovely twist that did work well with the sweet pots of sour cream, cloudberry jam and brown cheese spreads. I haven’t had Gjetost (pronounced ‘Yetost’) since childhood days and this immediately made me smile as a result being in its more spreadable form. This was all served with a very subtle and drinkable coffee from Tim Wendelboe as the restaurant’s single choice of brand finishing the meal on another very good note. Were it not for the courses with cheese for example, I would have gone with a slightly higher percentile.

On a miscellaneous note, I was informed that Maaemo will be moving from its current premises to another site about 500 metres away in the New Year in order to have greater facilities (more lavatories than the one at present and a greater kitchen and kitchen development area) but the number of covers will remain the same which I was pleased to hear as the focus will / should remain on the diner experience as a result.

You know when you have had a quality meal when you are a bit down when it has to come to an end, even after 17 courses. The whole experience here is one of the greats and at the heights of professionalism which was a true pleasure to be the recipient of. I told the kitchen team afterwards that it is actually not a guarantee these days that going to a 3 Michelin starred restaurant will bring about a grand experience, but on this occasion it very much did and I meant every word as I do now. A super meal and experience in general which I heartily recommend.

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Since the deletion of a Michelin star at The Bath Priory, The Olive Tree has gained its place firmly on the SW England map by now being the only starred restaurant in Bath. This accolade was awarded for the first time this year with Chris Cleghorn as Head Chef who has been at The Olive Tree since 2013 (formerly at The Fat Duck and Gidleigh Park). There are a wealth of menus to choose from and our 5 course menu was £68 per head including some good extras. I was pleased with this meal and although it feels perhaps a little too snug inside, the result was a good one and both at the table walked away feeling it was worth the visit.

The restaurant is located in the basement area of the boutique Queensberry hotel and the restaurant is also the area breakfast is served to guests staying (or visiting in my case for a pop in breakfast previously). Canapes of Tunworth cheese gougeres with Madeira gel and truffle and pork with pineapple gel and timut pepper were equally a very good way to start. This was a decent advert of what was to come and it highlighted the importance of first impressions as this naurally raises the mood of the diner whenever this level of investment is placed in the initial greetings, no matter how small.

The restaurant is located in the basement area of the boutique Queensberry hotel and the restaurant is also the area breakfast is served to guests staying (or visiting in my case for a pop in breakfast previously). Canapes of Tunworth cheese gougeres with Madeira gel and truffle and pork with pineapple gel and timut pepper were equally a very good way to start. This was a decent advert of what was to come and it highlighted the importance of first impressions as this naurally raises the mood of the diner whenever this level of investment is placed in the initial greetings, no matter how small.

First of the five was smoked eel, golden beetroot, lovage and apple which had an absolutely superb oil and dressing base. The apple was very well judged to add the acidity it needed and the flavours really worked here. A brilliant start. Next came Ox tongue, Isle of Wight tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and nasturtiums with the Ox being so slowly cooked that it almost reminded me of a childhood flavourite classic of corned beef hash but significantly upgraded.

It was a little bit of a suprise that the bread came only after the first two courses, so I can only imagine this was a little slip here, but on the good side, it was satisfying to have such good homemade rye & treacle bread with clotted cream butter. Again, the little niceties do go a long way.

Chalk stream trout (confit), mushroom ketchup, peas and morels was another lovely dish. There’s almost never a bad time for morels and the mushroom ketchup was lovely as was the melt in the mouth texture of the trout; the only negative really being that the price for having such tender fish through confit cooking is that it practically loses most of its flavour and simply becomes a vehicle for these other parts. Not that this is a huge issue as they were all lovely, but thankfully the caviar on top was there to rescue and boost the flavour from the sea.

The lamb rump was fine and served in an innovative way with anchovies, lettuce, ewe’s curd and mint and again, I felt that it needed these as the lamb itself was quite plain as lamb goes. Not the powerhouse of lamb flavour that can be gained from other cuts, but again, this was nicely presented with a very good reduction holding it all together well.

Elderflowers, gooseberries, vanilla meringue and sorrel was one of the desserts which had a lovely ‘jelly and ice cream’ factor to it which is always a pleasure. A refreshing dessert here. The dark chocolate mousse was thankfully thicker than the word indicates and was toned down nicely by an ultra smooth yoghurt ice cream (very good). Olive oil with chocolate is not something new to me and does seem to work as an alternative to salted caramel or salted chocolate, but I did feel there was just too much of the this as the chocolate was practically bathing in it. There doesn’t actually need to be very much olive oil to get the effect that this gives, but either way, taking only parts of it created a pleasant combination. Coffee was from Du Monde and the petit fours chocolates were just right quantity for the food had.

Overall, this was a well balanced menu with a superb beginning and generally pleasing dishes throughout the lunch. Owing to the overall space in the restaurant and the fact that all tables for two guests appear to have to been placed on one side and barely a foot apart, the only negative here is being eavesdropped on if you have diners either side of you with not much to say to each other. However, a down to earth and caring level of hospitality from the staff seemed to make up for this. This was a very good advert for a visit and fits comfortably in the 1 Michelin starred family through my lens.

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The Flitch of Bacon has seen numerous evolutions over the past two years and now with Tim Allen at the helm, it has gained a Michelin star within the first year of him taking over the kitchen. I have always enjoyed Tim Allen’s food and his recent track record of gaining a Michelin star to the two previous venues he presided over (Launceston Place and The Wild Rabbit) speaks for itself. I found the 7-course tasting menu at £70 on this visit to be good value, with some excellent moments and it was a pleasure to be back in a Michelin starred restaurant that completely deserved to be so. It is a restaurant with 3 rooms rather than a pub, although there is a big enough and pleasant looking bar area as you enter and beer garden at the back, so it should cater for virtually any need. I did enjoy this visit and the key point is that I would be very happy to come in at anytime, equally for their highly reasonable set lunch menu at £32 for 3 courses. This venue ticks my boxes and is thoroughly recommended.

I estimated an hour and fifteen minutes to drive to Flitch of Bacon (FoB for this review) from Canary Wharf, but actually, it didn’t take much more than 45 minutes by car so was a lot quicker than I thought and I was reminded of what a tranquil little village it is. Little Dunmow is, well, little, so if you do any other errands to run, probably best do those before or in a bigger, nearby town. A nice touch on arriving to this hamlet is that FoB has its own car park and a beer garden for sunny days, so once you arrive here, although you might feel you are in unchartered territory, you basically have everything you need in this pleasant setting.

I estimated an hour and fifteen minutes to drive to Flitch of Bacon (FoB for this review) from Canary Wharf, but actually, it didn’t take much more than 45 minutes by car so was a lot quicker than I thought and I was reminded of what a tranquil little village it is. Little Dunmow is, well, little, so if you do any other errands to run, probably best do those before or in a bigger, nearby town. A nice touch on arriving to this hamlet is that FoB has its own car park and a beer garden for sunny days, so once you arrive here, although you might feel you are in unchartered territory, you basically have everything you need in this pleasant setting.

Lunch is now split into two menus, the tasting menu of 7 courses for £70 or set menu at £25 for 2 / £32 for 3 courses. Wishing to maximise our visit, we opted for the tasting menu which commenced in the garden with a welcome drink and canapes of black olive puffs with goats cheese foam and black olive tapenade (a Mediterranean olive paste) and smoked eel tartlets. The olive puffs were pleasing in themselves with a light crunch to the parcel and subtle goats cheese mousse filling, but the tartlets were superb. Brown buttered chicken was combined with smoked eel, cubes of Jersey royal potato, avruga caviar and emulsion of beetroot – the delicate pastry held a beautiful combination together with the smoked eel being delightful and I loved the texture of these with the Jerseys. A gorgeous canape.

The bread I feel is also worthy of a mention. Both the seeded foccacia and oatmeal brioche were hand made on site but it was the superb decision to put delicate lardo on the top of the fluffy brioche that made this just wonderful. The salty fat was the perfect seasoning for the brioche, the heat from the bread gently welding the lardo into the top of the brioche. If there was more of the lardo available, I would have swathed the whole piece with this.

Datterini tomatoes were next with iced basil pesto, green olive granite, smoked Marcona almonds (Spanish and reportedly sweeter than Californian almonds) and served with pan tomaca (bread with olive, tomato, garlic and Iberia ham). The tomatoes were a fresh way to start with their cooling parts around them and the pan tomaca was a simple an effective add on of another tomato variant.

Heritage carrots were cooked and served in various ways. In terms of being cooked, this was a mix of being prepared in chicken fat and juices, en paupiette and mi-quit (half cooked) infused with hay. They were served as a mouse, wrapped in long shavings and served whole with goats cheese, beurre noisette reduction and delectably thin and crispy chicken skin shards. This was a skilled dish with creativity and flavours that were a lovely match of sweet and salt and hugely enjoyable. I said it to the exec chef and I meant it, this version would actually give the carrot dish served at 2 Michelin starred Moor Hall a definite run for its money, it was that good.

The only variation I asked for on the tasting menu was for me to opt for the crispy hen’s egg with asparagus instead of the scallops, purely on preference and I tried the scallop as well. The hen’s egg indeed had a good crispy coating and runny yolk, although nip-picking, the table agreed that we are probably just passed the prime of asparagus for this year, compared with asparagus had had at The Fordwich Arms in early May. The flavour of the scallops on their own was fine, livened up by the peas, spiced foam of vadouvan (mixed spices but mainly saffron) as a variation on a common pairing of curry spices and scallop.

Cutlet of Herdwick lamb was the main, served with provençal pepper, crispy polenta, smoked anchovy, courgette flowers grown at Flitch of Bacon with braised shoulder included. My dining partner incurred the wrath of the molten lava, fried polenta on trying first and I had a lucky escape with this warning. When cooled, this was a pleasant texture to the dish, which, for the most part I enjoyed altogether, but owing to the lamb being tougher than hoped and with generally lesser flavour, this was a notch down from the previous dishes. The coupling of all flavours though did work well with the smoked anchovy proving to be an important ally again.

The pre-dessert consisted of iced cucumber lime and mint, candied cucumber, compressed apple and lime sour emulsion with gin was a pleasant crossover. Opinions were divided on the usefulness on a savoury element within a pre-dessert, with the ‘candied’ cucumber tasting very much of cucumber on their own, but all in all, I enjoyed the cleansing parts of these little scoopfuls.

Two desserts were offered, a strawberry dessert and rum baba. The strawberries came with strawberry gel, lemon verbena sorbet, soft vanilla cheesecake drums with a white chocolate shell and this was a triumph. Lemon verbena is wonderful and although quite strong, the sorbet was a refreshing add on to the strawberries and simply marvellous cheesecake parts that had white chocolate spraypainted on them to form a very light crust – perfect decision as white chocolate is simply too much in larger doses, but this was beautifully handled and skillfully done all round.

The rum baba’s recipe was akin to the 3 Michelin starred Alain Ducasse recipe and this version had at The Dorchester is very difficult to beat. However, this was the closest competitor rum baba to this dish I have had in quite a while, the exotic fruits adding a pleasing amount of succulent sweetness and I actually enjoyed the coconut touch in the Chantilly cream. Petit fours were a very nicely balanced mint chocolate ganache and I opted for the Kenyan of the three, principle coffee brands available (the Nespresso Kilimanjaro coffee trumping my version).

The FoB has been through the mill recently as electrical issues from the local energy station to the building have caused the restaurant to close for 3 months causing major staffing and financial challenges. Tim Allen has had to rebuild things from scratch again in some regards and for only reopening 3 weeks ago, it all appears to be back on track. I’m pleased for this establishment as a result, not only as there is considerable graft involved in recovering in this way but also because I genuinely enjoyed the experience here. Tim Allen has a very pleasing handle on presentation and whilst there were some brief, lukewarm moments during the menu, there were also moments that would easily fit on a 2 Michelin starred menu. Notwithstanding the very nice get away from London that it was and in an alluring setting with easy logistics, this was a very enjoyable meal and the key feeling was at the end where the overarching thought was of being very happy to pop in the car and come back again.

After being sat at the counter table, snacks came in the form of turbot croquette with taramasalata and dill that had a nice balance of herb, lemon and fish and a garlic cracker with olive gel. The latter was very light and had gentle handling of the garlic which was nicely done. Plain olives were fresh with good flavour. The amuse bouche was a butternut foam with bitter lemon, parsley oil, salt and vinegar pumpkin seeds and this was a lovely, autumnal and warming amuse bouche to have – good choice. Good sourdough came with very good butter.

My starter of local trout, cured with lapsing souchong gel came with creme fraiche sorbet (beautifully sweet), salt from Japanese bread crumb powder and gorgeous green cucumber ketchup with crunch from thinly sliced sourdough. This was utterly refreshing that had absolutely everything going in its favour – textures, freshness, originality, flavour and good quality ingredients and the cucumber ketchup was insanely good. This dish would have not have looked out of place in virtually any Michelin starred restaurant and more importantly, it was bang for buck on flavour.

The main of Partridge came with truffle, barbecued sweet corn, confit leg and onion. The sweet corn barbequed was one of the nicest parts and the Partridge itself was juicy and avoided being too dry. The sommelier paired this with a good Grenache Blanc that was fulsome, fruity & dry at the same time. One gripe for this dish was the size of the main which was quite small, but thankfully on the side was a rather good truffled macaroni cheese to help fill the tank up. Whilst it was not firework territory, the main was pleasing.

Pre-dessert came in the form of plum compote, almond foam and tonka meringue. The meringue was beautifully done but I felt the almond could have had its volume increased as it slightly struggled against the strength of the plum. However, a pleasant little pre-dessert to have. The actual dessert came in the form of black mission fig, grape, buttermilk and sparkling wine emulsion. I have to say the buttermilk pannacotta was absolutely outstanding (so smooth and creamy) and this was complimented well with the olive crisp and fig sorbet. The only element that I didn’t need too much of was the sparkling wine foam as this slightly took over the pannacotta being at the acidity it was. Less of the latter would have been just the job for me here, but ultimately it was a superb pannacotta. The elderflower petit four was a nice touch with coffee as well.

The bill all in for 3 courses, glass of wine and coffee came to £73 which, by all accounts with all extras is good value for money, especially when considering it was a 6-course meal including coffee and petit fours. Service ranged from homely to needing a touch more finesse on occasion, but the main thing here was that it was a beautifully done interior of a pub with a perfectly decent enough menu, done by an energetic chef at the helm and a good atmosphere within the team that was obvious to see and hear. Flitch of bacon is an upmarket pub and I think it would be very hard not to be comfortable here and is the perfect venue for bringing a partner, especially if you wanted something of an uplift and personable but not over the top at the same time. I can imagine the rooms are equally well designed and overall the meal here was actually a good enough advert to want to come and stay over one night. It was the sort of visit where I asked myself on the way out, “Why haven’t I been here before?”.

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This is the reincarnation of the original Wild Honey in Mayfair by the same chef Anthony Demetre, who also owned Arbutus in Soho. This new version, opened in June 2019, is a lot more spacious than the first Wild Honey and holds a very pleasant waiting area and bar at the same time, catering for drop ins for food on busy nights. My drop in was spontaneous and I opted for two starters and dessert from the a la carte which totalled £39. They were small plates as a result but, the standard here was as high as I enjoyed and referred from the previous Wild Honey and so things are looking good here. Definitely, worth another visit for a more substantial meal and I like the fact they are open for lunch on a Sunday as well.

The menus vary from a very good value set menu of £23 for two courses, £27 for three courses and based on this first outing, I strongly suspect this will be a far better option and value for money than many other restaurants. The Sofitel that Wild Honey is next to opened in 2002 and although Wild Honey is a separate business, it is attached to the Hotel and accessible through the lobby as well the bustling Pall Mall.

The menus vary from a very good value set menu of £23 for two courses, £27 for three courses and based on this first outing, I strongly suspect this will be a far better option and value for money than many other restaurants. The Sofitel that Wild Honey is next to opened in 2002 and although Wild Honey is a separate business, it is attached to the Hotel and accessible through the lobby as well the bustling Pall Mall.

My meal started with decent sour dough supplied by The Bread Factory and my first course that was recommended to me was the Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) and this one served with boneless chicken wings. There was certainly no shortage of kick with the pepper but the cheese sauce was well done as was the choice to pair with the chicken. This was a simple & effective dish, with the chicken skin giving a pleasant crunch and saltiness to the macaroni.

I was not hugely hungry that evening so I opted to keep things light and have another starter instead of a main and was guided to the lacquered BBQ quail, turnip with peanut. This was an absolutely exquisite quail. The fire from the peanut sauce was definitely there and the cool from turnip ribbons was welcome to balance. The quail itself was gorgeously succulent and I ended up trying to scrape every last piece of meat off the bones. Cayenne pepper gave most of the heat from the sauce.

The chocolate soup was reminiscent of semolina in part (a good thing for personal preference) and the ice cream was a perfect accomplishment to the warm chocolate mousse. The portion size here was good and the puffed rice was another lovely touch for the dessert in general.

So, all in all, this was a very pleasant few samples and means it will absolutely be done again another time. This is traditional dining and for the better; no tasting menus and within its new setting, I think this is a lovely addition to the London dining scene. If a pre-theatre menu was added, I can only think this will be a superb move for those attending theatre performances on Haymarket or Lower Regent Street. But, will leave that with the restaurant to consider. Overall, I thoroughly recommend giving this a try.

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Salt is one of the newly (Michelin) starred restaurants for the 2019 guide for Great Britain and Ireland and is no more than a 10-minute walk from Stratford-upon-Avon train station. I enjoyed the ease of the restaurant with its comfortable feel, open kitchen and breezy handling of the head chef (Paul Foster), greeting the tables in the restaurant towards the end of service. The set menu I had was £27 for 3 courses which, in itself is good value for money when due care and attention has been applied which it was here. I can see why this would be a very pleasant option to have if I was living in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Three menus were on offer at lunch – the a la carte at £40 for three courses, the tasting menu of 6 courses for £50 or the set lunch as mentioned at £27.50 for three courses (£22.50 for two courses). These in themselves are very good value for money but especially pleasing when the add ons of homemade malt bread was as appealing as it was perfectly malleable Oxfordshire butter and opening canape of potato waffle with truffle and goats curd to nibble on whilst looking at the menu. In fact, I should say that the bloody Mary had here, made with herbs from the garden was an absolute killer with its lovage oil and spices as well.

Three menus were on offer at lunch – the a la carte at £40 for three courses, the tasting menu of 6 courses for £50 or the set lunch as mentioned at £27.50 for three courses (£22.50 for two courses). These in themselves are very good value for money but especially pleasing when the add ons of homemade malt bread was as appealing as it was perfectly malleable Oxfordshire butter and opening canape of potato waffle with truffle and goats curd to nibble on whilst looking at the menu. In fact, I should say that the bloody Mary had here, made with herbs from the garden was an absolute killer with its lovage oil and spices as well.

My starter consisted of Wye Valley asparagus smoked egg yolk, pea tartare with lemon and rapeseed oil was excellent; the smoked yolk that was slow cooked adding its richness to the vegetables was counterbalanced nicely by the pea tartare, cutting through nicely. In fact the dressing for this pea tartare was perhaps the best element on the dish.

The main I opted for was the BBQ beef with miso turnip, Swiss chard and yeast purée which, was a very pleasing combination. The set menu is always going to have cheaper cuts of meat to make the prices of the set menu possible, but it was good to see that the philosophy of this restaurant was to be happier using cheaper cuts and treat them well as opposed to simply use more expensive ingredients and not handle or present these as well.

A simple strawberry dessert came with a buttermilk pistachio ice cream, crumbs lime curd (cream) and sugar tuile. The tang of the lime worked well here with ice cream I thought and mercifully the sugar tuile was not the kind that would weld your teeth together and was more gentle on the chewing. Coffee was of the Single Estate yellow bourbon Brazil variety and came with a petit four choux bun with pines and custard profiterole with pine powder & dehydrated raspberry powder. I appreciated the effort that went into this single petit four, which had a decent filling but found the choux pastry a touch dry on this.

I enjoyed this outing and the hour and a half train ride from London (in my case) was not the hardest journey to undergo by a long stretch and if you are native to Stratford or even passing through, I would obviously recommend a pop in here yourself.

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Leroy (pronounced ‘Lee-roy’ according to the staff) is the reincarnation of the previous Ellory in Hackney by the same team and they finished their move in Mar 2018. Later that year, Leroy was awarded a Michelin star again for the 2019 guide in their more spacious, Shoreditch location. The venue is most certainly for the casual crowd (nothing wrong for this but see full review for more context) and whilst some flavours were pleasing, this seemed to be an overly generous award from Michelin and one I can’t concur with. My bill for a snack, bread, two starters and a dessert came to £48 and I also find this to be disproportionately pricey when compared to the overall return in numerous Michelin starred restaurants for early set menus (which are better and also cheaper) citing Social Eating House, Veeraswarmy and Barrafina to name a few at random.

I arrived just before the evening opening time of 6pm in order to take pictures of the venue without any other diners (to avoid being in their faces with a camera) with another guest in front planning a future visit. I think I was waiting behind for about 4 minutes with all other staff ignoring another person waiting before being asked if I could be helped. Errr, yup, do you have a seat for one available, please? After being shown to the bar the menu and specials on a board were shown: 6 small plate and 2 main (priced) dishes and 5 snacks on the board to choose from which did seem a little slim on choices even considering the smaller sized kitchen. The bread was charged at £3.50 which I found disappointing when considering it is bought in from Dusty & Knuckle and not made on the premises. This is not to suggest it was particularly bad, but when you have bread as superb as the hand made brioche with lardo from Tim Allen at the Flitch of Bacon which is not charged at all, I see this as cheeky in comparison.

I arrived just before the evening opening time of 6pm in order to take pictures of the venue without any other diners (to avoid being in their faces with a camera) with another guest in front planning a future visit. I think I was waiting behind for about 4 minutes with all other staff ignoring another person waiting before being asked if I could be helped. Errr, yup, do you have a seat for one available, please? After being shown to the bar the menu and specials on a board were shown: 6 small plate and 2 main (priced) dishes and 5 snacks on the board to choose from which did seem a little slim on choices even considering the smaller sized kitchen. The bread was charged at £3.50 which I found disappointing when considering it is bought in from Dusty & Knuckle and not made on the premises. This is not to suggest it was particularly bad, but when you have bread as superb as the hand made brioche with lardo from Tim Allen at the Flitch of Bacon which is not charged at all, I see this as cheeky in comparison.

Celeriac remoulade was served with freshly made mayo, mustard, lemon, capers, chives, pepper and was simple enough, followed by a steak tartare. The latter was again simply served with an aioli emulsion. Bavette was used for the meat which was salted for 20 minutes and mixed with the usual shallots, chive, Worcestershire sauce and pepper, served on grilled sourdough. It’s a personal favourite of mine which is why I went for it, but this version had a significant amount of pepper and kick to the extent that my nasal cavity felt as if it was under attack, just too much to enjoy the otherwise simplified version. More presence of egg yolk would have been better here I feel.

Onion and rainbow chard with Parmesan was simple and good. Butter and water are boiled down, and thickened with zantham and mixed with a specific vinegar to create a pleasant dressing with a dash of mustard on base of the plate, parmesan and olive oil drizzled on the top for the finish. I actually really enjoyed this dish and have replicated it at home for interest and is not too hard to do as a bonus. As this was essentially a plate of wilted and grilled vegetables however, I found the £10 price a little optimistic based on the ingredients not being at the upper end of the expense spectrum.

Chocolate dessert was interesting as it was a pleasant ganache with ‘boozy’ prune and creme anglaise as a classic combination but, on asking if the anglaise had been made with vanilla (as it usually is and arguably should be), the answer was that it wasn’t. Understandable when there is a world supply shortage of vanilla currently, but again why not just call it custard or cream in this case? I refrained from tea or coffee as this would have only pushed the bill up more for predictably not much more return on the experience.

I actually asked why Ellory was called its original name as I always wanted to know and the answer I got back was, “I’m not sure….he’ll know (pointing at the owner) though if you want to ask him…”. Cool(!), but I wasn’t sure of the reason stopping the waitress doing that on my behalf as a simple hospitality touch. Sorry, I don’t gel with this; you can be an informal restaurant and still cater for the diner in simple courtesy and I find this lazy and too blasé. I foraged for the answer which turns out to be a play on the name of a building (Leroy House) that was opposite the old restaurant and to keep a semblance of the brand, this name was adopted properly for the reopening.

All in all, the aspect I enjoyed the most on this visit was the vegetable plate but for all the rationale above, I can’t see the price justification here, let alone the awarding of a Michelin star.

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Rogan and Co is a relaxed eatery and a pleasant option for those Simon Rogan die-hard fans that were unable to gain a seat in his 2 Michelin starred L’Enclume (which, sits metres opposite this restaurant). My previous visit here was a bespoke Great British Menu visit from his winning dishes in the 2012 competition and perhaps the series that truly launched Simon Rogan and put him on to the 2 Michelin starred radar for the guide. Now in 2019, the causal Rogan & Co has been awarded its first star and this lunch visit took advantage of his hugely decent value set menu at £24 for 2 courses (£29 for three courses) but I opted for additional canapés on top of 2 courses. This was good cooking, no messing and a down to earth experience. The setting of Cartmel on this sunny day was another lovely twist for this revisit.

I do like the interior of Rogan & Co; not that this makes any difference to the food grade, but it is very nicely done in typical Cumbrian wood-panelled and elegant simplicity. The restaurant has a stream running by just outside for a pre or post-meal walk and the small enclosure of Cartmel should be visited at least once if you are passing anywhere nearby. The village is the home of sticky toffee pudding and fans of this pudding made with dates as the key ingredient can always view this and the endless displays of condiments in the village tourist shops.

I do like the interior of Rogan & Co; not that this makes any difference to the food grade, but it is very nicely done in typical Cumbrian wood-panelled and elegant simplicity. The restaurant has a stream running by just outside for a pre or post-meal walk and the small enclosure of Cartmel should be visited at least once if you are passing anywhere nearby. The village is the home of sticky toffee pudding and fans of this pudding made with dates as the key ingredient can always view this and the endless displays of condiments in the village tourist shops.

I opted for the 2 course set menu with three different canapés before instead. Mental note: you won’t need to order many of these canapés as they are very good value for what portion size you are getting! Mine were cod’s roe on parmesan biscuit (the lemon working well with the cod’s roe), choux buns with caramelised onion and Comte cheese (satisfying, but less cooked choux pastry and more cheese inside would have been welcome) and truffle pudding which was very good. This had the texture of a bread and butter pudding with garlic emulsion blob on top and a savoury custard inside – original and enjoyable.

Home-baked bread from L’Enclume with pasteurised butter and Molden salt was extremely good bread and butter. Another lovely touch was being asked, “Would you like still, sparkling or tap water?”. Restaurants never usually give this third option – they might reason they don’t wish to offer something potentially not clean, but obviously, the loss of the sales will be a significant factor. Not only am I in a country where tap water is perfectly safe to drink, but I was in Cumbria, where you can have a full handful of soapy lather in mere seconds with soap under any tap as the water is that soft, so it is the perfect location to dispense with bottled water. “Tap water please, and a whole load”.

A pleasant celeriac veloute, with apple and brown butter, was the starter. This was very smooth and welcome but the only noticeable decline was that the apple matchsticks lost their citrus power and any form of real crunch the second they were submerged in the veloute shortly after served and became minor texture only. The initial bits were enjoyed but perhaps an additional amount on the side to sprinkle in would be more practical and also be fun for the diner raising this small starter.

Goosnargh chicken with grilled onions & tarragon, vinegar and stout jus and mushroom was the main. This had a lovely aromatic, almost Asian feel to it and the stout jus was excellent. The chicken itself was very good with well-done skin and the classic match of chicken and tarragon coming through nicely. A simple and satisfying dish for a set menu if there ever was one.

By this stage, I realised my greedy mistake on the canapés and didn’t have enough room for dessert so the bill came to £42.90 all in (no drinks) with a chocolate Madelaine to take away. This was another lovely visit to this down to earth drop-in option and I’m pleased it has a Michelin star. It’s debatable how much input Simon Rogan needs to put into this restaurant now that Tom Barnes (formerly of L’Enlcume) is maintaining its existence and popping over the road to keep an eye on L’Enclume as well from time to time (reportedly). Either way, this was a lovely drop in and in some ways, I would actually prefer to come here and keep visits to L’Enlcume to marathon occasions. As the team is essentially the same, the overall food grade is the average of these two visits.

The apple jus and pickled beetroot just worked so well with the succulent lobster and the Pork was frankly the best belly of pork I have ever had with its absolutely sumptuous tenderness with delicate and not overdone crispy roasted skin. The cream cheese ice cream was velvet luxury and original and it was so memorable I do not even need to look at any photos from this visit over two years ago to write this as it is so firmly planted in the happy compartment of memories.

The horrible thing to have to admit is that if I had a choice of only one more meal from Cartmel, be it the tasting menu at L’enclume or that GBM menu at Rogans, I would almost certainly choose the latter, however the dishes will undoubtedly have changed since 2012 at Rogan & Co and I look forward to going again whenever one can to gain a more rounded view.

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The White Swan is one of only two pubs to receive a Michelin star in the 2019 guide (the other one being The Blackbird in Bagnor). This is a lovely looking pub in an unlikely setting, where during the meal I happen to catch overtones of food being the subject of many tables in discussion outside of eating – perhaps this is an unknown village of devout food lovers irrespective(!). Either way, I’m very pleased for this venue gaining a star as the dishes were simple, well executed and packed a powerful punch of flavour. Tom Parker (head chef), mentored by Nigel Haworth of Michelin starred Northcote, has also managed to offer a value set menu to be enjoyed in the evening (3 courses for £35) as well which is rare for finer dining establishments (one other that leaps in to the mind for this is Le Champignon Sauvage). This, combined with some very decent beers and the well-designed interior make this a little gem of the north, perhaps the country. Thoroughly recommended if you are passing anywhere near.

As it was a bit of a trek to get to Fence from London, I opted for the tasting menu at £60 for 6 courses on my way further northwards. Homemade white bread using organic white flour and another different kind (secret) was served first. This had been part baked and then frozen which allows them to put in the oven every time and served with chicken liver parfait with grated frozen foie gras and salted butter. This was a lovely touch and amuse bouche effectively, the parfait being deep in flavour, glossy and smooth with a gorgeously warm, crunchy bread. I had a smile on my face start to finish with this as the welcome and made everything about the long journey disappear. It was so good in fact that I asked for another piece of bread and this was duly done and baked, bespoke to request – it’s been a long time since even a 3 Michelin starred restaurant did this for me. It was another £1 for this bread which I would frankly pay in a heartbeat for doing to order and with this level of crunch to the crust.

As it was a bit of a trek to get to Fence from London, I opted for the tasting menu at £60 for 6 courses on my way further northwards. Homemade white bread using organic white flour and another different kind (secret) was served first. This had been part baked and then frozen which allows them to put in the oven every time and served with chicken liver parfait with grated frozen foie gras and salted butter. This was a lovely touch and amuse bouche effectively, the parfait being deep in flavour, glossy and smooth with a gorgeously warm, crunchy bread. I had a smile on my face start to finish with this as the welcome and made everything about the long journey disappear. It was so good in fact that I asked for another piece of bread and this was duly done and baked, bespoke to request – it’s been a long time since even a 3 Michelin starred restaurant did this for me. It was another £1 for this bread which I would frankly pay in a heartbeat for doing to order and with this level of crunch to the crust.

First up was organic salmon, which I was informed was farmed, so I was curious how this could be, but was served with English wasabi buttermilk, cucumber & dill, yuzu. The sous vide and slow-cooked salmon was melt in the mouth as you would expect albeit without much inherent flavour – the flavour was added by everything else on the plate which came together nicely.

Tomato consommé was next with garden herbs, flowers, sweet and sour tomatoes, olives and served with Hebdon Bridge goats cheese gnocchi. This had a really powerful tomato flavour, with olives providing a very good compliment with the sweet and sour consommé. The consommé itself was at the very limit of what I would call comfortable for sweetness (anymore sweet and I would need a protective coating for my teeth) and the gnocchi was very nicely cooked. There was strong seasoning from the goats cheese and was pleasurable nonetheless.

West coast turbot (from a good sized, 7kg fish) came with dashi buerre blanc, asparagus bits, roast chicken and shitake and mushroom ketchup. This was fantastic, every component. The turbot was sensational in quality, cooked to perfection with glorious chicken skin pieces being the ideal crunch and seasoning on top. Sweet and umami came together at the same time here with the mushroom ketchup and was a beautifully done dish.

Burholme farm lonk lamb (with braised lamb), jacket skin and onion mash, chives, sheep’s curds and potato cracking side formed the meat course. This brought the meal down to a pleasant simmer I thought; the lamb was well cooked but was medium strength in terms of lamb super flavour, however, this was boosted by the side of jus which had a very pleasant rosemary kick.

Hot and cold coffee caramel formed an unusual but original pre-dessert – warmth from the caramel mousse surrounded by nitro-poached caramel releasing good textures and mixing well. Perhaps the heavy sweetness could be toned down a fraction as a pre-dessert here. A Valrhona chocolate soufflé with salted peanut butter ice cream and hot chocolate sauce ended the meal on another true high as the souffle was perfect in the middle, the chocolate not being too heavy and a well-judged level of peanut and sugar in the ice cream to assist the souffle.

Even though I nip pick, I so enjoyed this meal, served in a completely non-stuffy or pretentious atmosphere. It’s a true delight when these things happen and you walk away with a satisfied glow. The head chef even afforded a few minutes to chat when he was in the middle of service which I felt a little guilty about, but was good to discover he is simply doing his own thing, as the main driver, with just two other chefs to help in the small kitchen. Beer lovers should be very pleased with the selection of Timothy Taylor’s ales to choose from behind an attractive looking bar.

This is another lovely addition to the Michelin starred family and well done to them.

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Author’s note: Hedone announced it closed permanently as of 1 June 19.

Hedone has changed its menu format over the years since my last visit in 2014 and therefore a third visit now was well merited. This was a lunch meal trying the only set menu on offer, which for this service, was a ‘blind’ 7-course tasting menu at £105 pp. All in, the bill came to £187 per person including a young, but decent bottle of 2017 Chardonnay: Duresses, Douhairet-Porcheret. The food remains at a very strong 1 Michelin starred standard but I couldn’t help but notice that the restaurant/team felt and looked a little tired and weary as an overall atmosphere. Click the button below for a full rundown of this meal.

Hedone has gone through some fragile times internally in the last two years so I gather, with its future direction uncertain. That said, it was good to get back and see what the menu was looking like in 2019. The meal started with a foie gras parfait canapé with delicate red pepper coating and fino sherry gel on the top which was of a superb standard of parfait, the lightest of crisp coatings and the tart of the gel working beautifully together. Next up was the amuse bouche of savoury custard made with shiro dashi (a soup base made from bonito / kombu dashi and white soy sauce), with a pea puree and with fresh green peas. This really was first class – the dashi custard perfectly warm and smooth, complimenting the flavour of the pea puree well and with the superb peas bursting in the mouth with their freshness and providing a great texture as well.

Hand dived scallops from the Isle of Man came in a broth made from coconut and lemongrass with herb oil and courgette pieces for crunch. The scallops themselves were perfectly cooked and were of excellent quality, but the overall flavour of the broth was a little bland and not one of the best courses. White asparagus came next with Romaine lettuce purée, hollandaise foam with smoked paprika powder. As much as I was really looking forward to this, it didn’t provide the punch the table was hoping for. White asparagus has to be peeled like a potato as the outside skin is extremely course and gets its colour from being grown in the dark, having being denied the opportunity to photosynthesize, hence its colour and the flavour of these white asparagus was delicate but the overall texture not hugely enjoyable (overall flabby with all components).

A slice of the fillet of sea bass was next which was a delightful piece of cooking. The quality of this fish was superb (so succulent and packed with flavour) with a beautifully crispy skin. Seabass has a notoriously short cooking window to be perfect, so this was very well cooked and the base sauce using taggiasca olives (named after the village of its origin in NW Italy near the border with France and famed for being smaller, with low acidity, greater sweetness and never bitter) was a perfect accompaniment. A simple and great dish.

Lamb from central France was the main and only meat dish and was served with fennel salad, an artichoke slice and raisins. The lamb itself was cooked as well as it could have been but I was immediately reminded of far superior lamb at other 1 Michelin starred and Michelin recommended restaurants (Ynyshir Restaurant, Sosban at The Old Butchers and Kutir to name a few). However, the raisins mixed with harissa (a North African chilli paste made with peppers) was an absolute masterstroke and the dish was considerably boosted and almost saved with this addition – a winning level of tang and moisture assisting the naughty levels of lamb fat on the dish, supported and balanced by the crunch and moist fennel salad.

The pre-dessert was French meringue with strawberries and cream. French style meringue is often softer on the outside than Swiss meringue (and so I, personally, find it more enjoyable as a result). The strawberry espuma was as light and sweet as could be hoped for and overall the dish was a melt in the mouth and a wonderfully light palate wash. The only negative here is that a couple of the strawberries on my plate had old skin in parts and is a notch down from what is expected at this level. The main dessert itself was a coffee mousse in a chocolate glaze on a yuzu biscuit with a white miso ice cream. The chocolate and mousse were very well done, however, I felt the savoury notes might have actually been better in a pre-dessert as a cross over, opposed to the finishing touch. An ok end to the meal.

A word on the service and overall experience (which, as a refresh has nothing to do with my overall grade). I’m fairly sure that a great deal of the time diners cannot fully keep up with waiting staff explanations of what dishes are, but don’t wish to risk delay or cause a scene by asking again and again as waiting staff are busy. I’m equally sure that this usually results in about 60-70% of the description being understood on average (and sometimes 0%) which is politely followed by a retreating smile and nod. I mention this as the delivery on this occasion was machine-gun fast in thick accents and it was obvious that the staff, in general, wanted to get away from the table as quickly as possible with any questions to clarify what was said, seeming to be a nuisance. Now, I can (sort of) understand this if a restaurant is extremely busy, but the restaurant was only half full, if that, with a ratio of one waiting staff to approx. two tables, so there was plenty of time to deal with a few more seconds to be fully understood.

I think it was the fourth course where the waiting staff finally knew that I wasn’t going to shy away from asking about details that were incomprehensible (especially as I need to ask for the purpose of these reviews). And to their credit, they did finally make an effort to slow down explanations, but I suspect only as a result of polite persistence (I would also bet green money that this was reluctant and not the norm). Whinge over, but it does add to the overall experience which, as a restaurant visit, was not up there with the greats.

As we dined, we saw the executive chef at the bar on his headphones through the afternoon to periodically monitor the kitchen – nothing wrong with this of course, but it added to what I sensed, which was a slightly joyless atmosphere among the team as a whole. The image of the brilliant Mikael Jonsson at the bar, combined with the functional service gave this impression. I have complete respect for the Executive Chef’s knowledge, philosophy of cooking and design of the dishes, but the restaurant did feel a little gloomy and borderline dour on occasion.

However, the cooking was excellent, with moments that would not be out of place at 2 Michelin starred level, but overall, it sat appropriately in the 1 star family and is definitely in the strongest quadrant. Maybe, I have just been unlucky on my visits here and not caught it at its absolute prime…

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